Once Upon A Broken Heart

Stephanie Garber

Published: September 28, 2021

Genres: Romance, Fantasy, Young Adult

Pages: 408

Once Upon a Broken Heart is my first enemies to lovers book. I was a little unsure if I would like it, considering it is also my first fantasy romance book. While it may be corny, I’ve always enjoyed insta love, or at least a kind MMC. So it’s very likely that I will lean away from the book’s MMC. Which happened… Quite a bit.

As I read Once Upon a Broken Heart, it became apparent that I wasn’t the intended target audience due to my older age. Jacks is a MMC that I would consider as childish, maybe even a teenager girl’s ideal love interest. Although I recognise he is a villain, it is slightly annoying when Jacks touches Evangeline without permission since he comes across as forceful. If it weren’t for the fact it’s seen as romantic to Evangeline, I would’ve thought of those scenes as endangering. But even if I were to excuse his non-consensual behaviour for his villainous nature, that shouldn’t need to happen. While people are allowed to write MMCs like Jacks, I can only hope that it doesn’t influence any teenager girl’s boyfriend tastes.

I see Jacks as a male version of a Mary Sue. I don’t remember a time when he’s ever wrong. Jacks would behave immorally, but his actions are soon discovered to be secretly good. Like how Jacks would cross Evangeline’s boundaries, but apparently it’s okay since she gains a social advantage. Or sometimes there are times where he has no good reasons behind his actions, yet, as the reader, I’m forced to brush them aside since I can only assume his reasons would be elaborated in the next book. Despite my clear disinterest for Jacks, I do find him to be enjoyable at times. Like I said before, this is my first enemies to lovers book so I have a love-hate opinion of Jacks. I like how I can take the time to appreciate their little moments together, to watch as they slowly bond with each other. Which, I have to admit, is refreshing.

Throughout reading the book, I was hopeful was hopeful that the stepsister, Marisol, was good hearted. Even at times when her two-faced persona was blatantly obvious, I chose to believe otherwise, not wanting to believe in such cliche. When I say it was obvious, I meant it was awfully right in your face before the plot twist was revealed, making the plot twist predictable. I understand the “evil stepsister” trope existed to relate to the Cinderella fairytale, but I would find more meaning within the stepsister if she wasn’t a bad person. Instead, Marisol could resemble a hurt teenager girl who became jealous over her stepsister, but chose to overcome her envy by not becoming her mother. Her journey could have resembled how a fairytale isn’t bound to its tropes, that it is possible to free themselves from it. Which would link back to Evangeline, who isn’t bound to her “heartbroken ending”. However, the stepsister only became another unsupportive female family member. Sometimes I notice FMCs always seem to be “better” than the other women, whether it’s morally or physically. But even when there’s a pretty or kind woman, she’s always boring or nonexistent. Which is also a shame because I wish there was more girls supporting girls in books.

Putting all of the negativity aside, I generally believe Once Upon a Broken Heart is one of those books that is perfect for a movie adaptation. The concept is not only interesting, but exciting and magical. It’s an unexpectedly unique romance book since the love interest isn’t a prince, but rather a villain. Although it’s hard to say if it’s fully unique since this book is my first fantasy romance. I’ve always had a soft spot for fairytales though. Apparently some of these characters are from Stephanie’s other series, Caraval. I appreciate that is not required the first series to understand the world of Once Upon a Broken Heart. If anything, it only fills my curiosity to discover the backstory of certain characters.

I liked the topic of forced love since many individuals want love in their lives, yet those same individuals dislike receiving that desired love without effort. Evangeline resembles the troubled thoughts that lingers within a person’s mind when they’re in a relationship. A person who has imposter syndrome, believing their partner is only loving the idea of them rather than their true selves. Evangeline clearly didn’t felt deserving of Apollo’s love, which is logical since Apollo was cursed into being in love. But before it was confirmed to be a curse, Evangeline questioned his affection and believed he would snap out of it. While it is merely a fairytale reference, I believe many women can relate to her despairing thoughts nonetheless.

As I edit this review into my blog, I do realise something... This book was released a day before my birthday. Who would've thought such a wonderful series was released near the day of my birth?

Maybe the real reason Evangeline had never been able to talk to Marisol about Luc wasn't because of a spell. Maybe it was fear that had paralyzed her tongue. Maybe, deep down, Evangeline feared that she and Lue weren't actually cursed, but he was just an unfaithful boy.